


Five Times Someone Should Have Figured Out Holster and Bitty Were Dating

by petersnotkingyet



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 5 + 1, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 18:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4971457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petersnotkingyet/pseuds/petersnotkingyet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And the one time they did</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Someone Should Have Figured Out Holster and Bitty Were Dating

It started pretty simply. Jack graduated, and Ransom started going out with a girl named Sarah. That left more time for Bitty and Holster to hang out. It came to be very naturally. If anything, it was healthy for Holster to have someone other than Ransom to depend on. They started with Smash Brothers and escalated to weekly coffee every Sunday.

It was one of those Sundays, but it was raining too hard for them to walk to Annie's. Mario Kart was the compromise, and then they moved on to marathoning old episodes of Survivor. "You cold?" Holster asked, seeing Bittle wrap his arms around himself.

"A little," the younger boy said with a shrug.

Holster gestured him closer, and Bitty scooted over without thinking about it.  
They were both in their pajamas, and Holster was a space heater even in a tank top. Bitty sighed happily, and Holster gently ran his fingers through his hair.

"Your hair is like, way soft, bro," Holster commented.

"My conditioner is in the green bottle. You can use it if you want."

"Thanks, man," Holster said. "You wanna watch the cooking channel again?"

Bitty nodded. They sat there, quietly content, until the next commercial break. "Hey, Bits?" Holster said, and Bitty hummed a response. "Do you wanna go out sometime?"

For a fraction of a second, the junior didn't respond. Then he exhaled and said, "Yeah, that sounds nice, Holtzy."

 

1\. When Holster made an Instagram

"Hold up," Holster said, pulling out his phone a quickly snapping a selfie. "I've gotta Instagram this shit."

"You have a Instagram?" Chowder asked.

"Yeah," Holster said. "Bitty talked me into it."

"What's your username? I'll follow you."

Chowder typed the letters and numbers into the search bar as Holster listed them off. A profile popped up, and Chowder clicked on it. He hit follow and then scrolled through the pictures. A few were off the team or of Ransom and Holster, but there was a similar theme among the rest. 

"These are all just you and Bits," Chowder said curiously. Holster laughed affectionately.

"Yeah, he's too cute not to post," he agreed. "Come on, dude, we're going to be late. 

2\. When Holster got the flu

"Bitty," Holster groaned pathetically. "Go away. I'm gonna get you sick."

"That's a lot farther away than you drowning in your own puke," Bitty said. "You need to go to the doctor."

"I just wanna sleep," Holster said, coughing into his elbow. "I don't have to go to the student health center to know I have the flu."

"Just chill, Bittle," Nursey said. "Holster'll be fine."

Bitty glowered at the underclassman. "I'm not the one who needs to chill," he stated. "Holster's the one with a fever. He needs to chill."

"How about Nursey and I go by the store and get some NyQuil?" Dex compromised. Bittle considered it briefly.

"And the stuff to make chicken soup?"

"Sure," Dex agreed, and Bitty nodded.

"I'll text you the list," Bitty said. Dex nodded and dragged Nursey with him to head to CVS.

"When did Holster and Bittle get so bro-y?" Nursey asked as they shut the door.

"The preseason, I guess," Dex said.

Half an hour later, they arrived back at the Haus with flu medicine, orange juice, and the ingredients for the Bittle Family's Famous Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. It was more stuff than the guys would have thought possible to put in soup, but they could all vouch for the results. Holster was still curled up on the couch, but his face was now smushed against Bitty's knee. Survivor Panama was on the TV.

"Come on, sweetheart," Bitty said. "Let me up so I can make the soup."

"No..." Holster groaned miserably. "You're comfortable."

"You can't take flu medicine lying down," Bitty prompted, managing to wiggle out from under Holster. "I'll be right back."

"Do you want me to pause the show?" Holster offered.

"No, honey, you can catch me up when I come back."

After cajoling the D-man into taking some DayQuil and drink some juice, Bitty headed to the kitchen. Dex grabbed one of his textbooks to study while he kept Holster company, from a safe distance of course, but ended up spending more time watching Survivor. "What's your thing with this show?" Dex asked.

"It's me and Bits' show," Birkholtz answered.

"Your show," Dex repeated. "Right."

3\. When they went to Pride

"Quit giggling!" Bitty said. "I can't paint your face if you're moving all over the place."

"Sorry, I'm ticklish," Holster said, not the least bit apologetic. Bitty was adorably focused on the pink, purple, and blue face paint he was working with. He'd perched on his knees on a chair across from Holster, and his tongue was poking out between his lips. The hand stabilizing his face was making him laugh just as much as tickle from the paint.

"Are you guys ready?" Shitty asked. He'd made the trip out for a visit, just in time for the Samwell Pride Festival.

"We are now," Bitty said, holding up his phone so Holster could see his face paint.

"It's perfect, Bits," Holster said. "Thanks."

The festival was on the main quad. Different organizations had set up booths with games and information. At a ring toss, Holster won a gift card to Annie's, which he immediately turned over to Bitty for safe keeping. 

"The parade's about to start," Lardo said around the time they'd had their fill of the booths. "Let's find a good spot to stand."

By the time they'd made it back to the main path, the edges were already starting to fill up. Shitty let Lardo get on his back so she would be able to see. Holster glanced over at Bitty with a familiar look on his face, and the forward rounded on him.

"No, Adam Birkholtz," he said. "I'm twenty years old. I'm not getting on your back to see a parade."

"Lardo's twenty-one, and she's doing it," Shitty said. When Eric didn't respond, he said, "Come on, Bits. Pride's only once a year."

Down the path, people started cheering as the parade began. "Fine," Bitty relented. Holster gleefully crouched down for the younger boy to jump on.

"They're really bro-ing it up this year, aren't they?" Shitty said as Bitty messed up Holster's hair. 

"Yeah," Lardo agreed, pulling out her phone to snap a selfie. She yelled to get Eric and Holster's attention, and then took a picture of them too when they looked. 

It was the wall paper on Bitty and Holster's phones by the next day. 

4\. When Bitty got hurt

The sound of pads slamming into the board was unusually loud in the quiet following the timeout call. Holster whirled around and quickly spotted Bitty on the ground. He wasn't getting up, and Holster made it over to him before the rest of the team.

"Holts," Bittle choked out. He hadn't locked up, but his whole body was tense with pain. 

"It's okay, man," Holster reassured. "What hurts?"

"My shoulder. I hit the boards weird."

Holster only had to look around for a few seconds before he found the guy who'd checked Bittle after the whistle. Ransom helped Bitty back to his feet to get him off the ice, but Holster was already heading over to the other team. The guy didn't seem too concerned about Eric, further pissing off Holster.

"You hit him after the whistle," Holster said, raising his voice to get number nine's attention.

"Oh, did I?" he said.

"Yeah, like this."

And then Holster decked him.

The fight was over in thirty seconds, but Holster managed to get in a few good hits before they were hauled apart. Ignoring Coach Hall, Holster made his way over to where they'd taken Bitty off the ice. Lardo, Coach Murray, and one of the trainers were in there with him, and they'd already gotten him out of his pads. The shoulder that had hit the boards was already swollen and discolored, and Bitty looked like he was near tears.

"Birkholtz," Coach Murray started at the same time as Bitty croaked, "Adam." 

The coach was still giving him a look, but he let the D-man sit down beside Bittle and hold his good hand. There was no doubt Murray had seen him hit the guy from the other team, and Holster knew they'd have words later. "His shoulder's separated," the trainer said. "He might need surgery, and there's still a chance of fractures."

"I'm gonna miss the rest of the season?" Bitty asked pitifully. The trainer nodded.

"Sorry, kid," Coach Murray said genuinely.

"Don't worry about it, Bits," Holster said. "You've got plenty of time to get better before next season."

"But it's your senior year."

"But not yours," Holster said. "There's gonna be plenty more games."

Bitty nodded, and Coach Murray said, "Birkholtz, you'd better get back out there. Bittle's got to go get that shoulder checked out anyways."

Holster hesitated, but Bittle squeezed his hand and waved him on. Holster nodded, stood up, and put his helmet back on. They had a game to win. 

5\. When Ransom and Holster had a talk

"Hey, Holtzy," Ransom said a few minutes after they'd both gone to bed. "You like Sarah, right?"

"Yeah," Holster said from his bunk. "Y'all are a good couple."

Ransom did his best not be worried by the "y'all." He rolled over so he'd be facing Holster, even though it was dark. He could hear the bottom bunk creek as his best friend did the same. "You don't feel like I'm ditching you or anything, right?"

"Nah," Holster said through a yawn. "I get it. You're just a little busier."

"And you don't feel like you have to... replace me or anything, right?" Ransom said carefully. Unsurprisingly, Holster laughed. 

"Is this about Eric?"

"Well," Ransom hesitated. "A little."

"Don't worry about it," Holster said. "You're still my best bro. My relationship with Bitty has as much to do with you as I do with you and Sarah."

Relieved, Ransom chuckled a little. "Well, they're a little different," he said. Holster didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"Yeah, whatever," Holster said, rolling over. "Goodnight."

+1 When Jack came home

"Hey, it's Mr. NHL!" Ransom yelled. "I thought you weren't going to be here until tonight."

"Caught an earlier flight," Jack said. "You guys made lunch yet?"

Chowder shook his head. "Bitty had physical therapy yesterday, and it tires him out, so we were just gonna let him sleep a while."

"How's his shoulder healing up?" Jack asked. Bitty had just managed to escape needing surgery, but there'd been a small fracture in addition to the separation. "That was some bad luck, what happened."

All of the guys nodded. "Holster nearly killed the guy that did it to him," Dex said. "His physical therapist said he should be back at full strength by next season."

"Let's go wake him up!" Chowder said. "He'll want to see Jack!"

The herd of hockey players thundered up the stairs. Without bothering to knock, Ransom pushed the door open and then immediately reeled back. In the bed, Holster and Bitty were thankfully both dressed for the most part. Holster was shirtless, but he had on a pair of Samwell sweatpants. It seemed that Bitty had taken possession of the older boy's shirt, and it hung down almost all the way over his shorts.

"Jack!" Bitty said, clamoring out of bed. "I thought you weren't supposed to get in until tonight."

"Caught an earlier flight," Jack said, and Bitty pulled him in for a hug.

"Are you not going to say anything about," Dex made a vague gesture towards Bitty's room, "that?"

"Well, I mean, you guys could have knocked, but it's not like you walked in on us doing it," Holster said. Dex's ears turned pink.

"Dude, you're my best bro," Ransom said, voice jumping an octave tensely. "Why didn't you tell me you're banging my bittiest bro?"

Holster squinted. "Rans, we've been going out for eight months. I didn't think I had to spell it out."

Bitty surveyed the looks on his teammates faces. "Did you not know we were dating?" he asked dubiously. With the exception of Jack, they all shook their heads.

"I don't even live in the Haus, and I knew that," Jack said.

"We get coffee at Annie's every Sunday," Holster said. "And we refer to Survivor as 'our show.' We painted each other's faces and went to Pride."

"Those could have been just bro things," Nursey said.

"We slow danced at the Winter Screw," Bitty pointed out. The guys shrugged, and Bitty laughed. "Come on, fellas. Let's go make lunch."


End file.
